Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young returned to the court after missing 22 games. The NBA All-Star was injured in February and had to undergo surgery to repair a tear of the radial collateral ligament (RCL) on the fifth finger of his left hand.
Young was able to finally get action as the Hawks faced off against the lowly Charlotte Hornet at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The game had the feel of a pre-season contest as Hawks coach Quin Snyder allowed star players Dejounte Murray, DeAndre Hunter, and Jalen Johnson to rest.
For Young, it was a chance for him to gain a rhythm after missing two months on the court.
“I was able to really just come in tonight and kind of fit in and just trying to do my part, but also fit into what the [team] has been doing,” Young said in the post-gam press conference. “I was trying to take what the [Hornets] was giving me. They’re very physical and they like to blitz and get the ball out of my hands. I had some dumb turnovers in the first half, but I was just trying to try to get my teammates involved.”
Young was able to score 14 points along with 11 assists as the Hawks built a sizable lead over the Hornets. However, the team would lose the lead after Snyder sat the starters in the 4th quarter.
Following a final last second miss by Trent Forrest, the Hawks fell to the Hornets 115-114.
The team will close out the season with games in Minnesota and Indiana, respectively.
The Hawks will focus on the play-in tournament where they will face the Chicago Bulls next week. The winner will have a chance to enter the NBA playoffs via the 8th seed. Young hopes to have a better rhythm by that time.
“I was trying to get a couple of games in by the play-in,” Young said. “Hopefully, I can play a little bit more and have more of a feel for my legs by playing more minutes. I’m just used to playing so that’s why I kind of wanted to play tonight. And I didn’t know If I was gonna play the whole fourth or anything like that, but it was good to get get out there again.”